News : An 'ear' for Art: Guild seeking 20 sponsors for Vinton-themed corn monuments

This photo is of the plaster prototype designed by Brian Parr and Rick Poleberg.

The Vinton Guild Of Fine Arts is requesting sponsorship for 20- 7ft tall ears of corn, to be placed in our community. These ears of corn will each be painted with a different theme to reflect our community and our history. This project was brought to the Vinton Guild Of Fine Arts by member Brian Parr. Brian is one of Vinton’s leading artist and has completed several projects in our community that has brought in consistent bus tours to view his tree carvings complete with visits to his art studio.

Brian Parr has played a significant role in our community and the Vinton Guild Of Fine Arts. Brian has joined forces with Rick Poleberg to make the first prototype of the giant ear of corn completely from plaster. This prototype will then be sent to the molding company to make the 20 fiberglass replicas. Rick Poleberg is a well known sculptor from the Vinton area and is best known for his work displayed in Iowa City of the ‘Firefighter‘. The ‘Firefighter’ is sculpted from clay and cast in bronze.

The Vinton Guild Of Fine Arts is a fairly new non profit organization less than a year old and already boasts upwards of 40 members. The Vinton Guild Of Fine Arts has already achieved great things in our community and have a lot of great ideas and projects in the works. The Vinton Guild Of Fine Arts has offered Brian and Rick their support on this project.

Sponsorship is $1,500.00 for each ear of corn. The ears of corn will then be auctioned to the highest bidder on the 20th of June 2015 during the Arts In The Park Festival. The proceeds from the auction will be handled by the Vinton Guild Of Fine Arts and will be used for future community art projects.

The Vinton Guild Of Fine Arts has a vision. Vinton is a beautiful community and provides the perfect backdrop for tourism. The Vinton Guild Of Fine Arts believes that by developing an art rich community it will aid in creating more tourism. Tourism will generate more money for our local businesses and stimulate growth in our community.

Question:If I sponsor an ear of corn will it be placed on my property?

Answer: No not necessarily, the sponsorship is to help bring these monuments to our community. The placement of the monuments will be in locations that create the best tourism for our community. The sponsors names will be noted on a plaque at the base of each monument.

Question: If I were to buy one of the ears of corn during the auction will it be placed on my property? If not, what would motivate me to purchase one?

Answer: No not necessarily the purchase of an ear of corn at the auction is to raise money for the Vinton Guild Of Fine Arts for future community art projects. The motivation to purchase an ear of corn is community betterment, create more tourism to Vinton.

More information about the monuments:

The prototype has been carved completely from a giant block of plaster and will need to be shipped to a mold company for replicas to be made from fiberglass. These fiberglass statues will then be shipped back to Vinton to be auctioned off to the highest bidders. They will then be painted with different themes that reflect our community and it’s history. The monuments will each be placed on concrete pads in different locations throughout the city to generate tourism and awareness of our great community. This is the reason for the 1500.00 sponsorship for each ear of corn. The auction of these monuments will help fund future community art projects.

Maintenance on these monuments should be extremely low and should last for generations to come. This project is very similar to the Herky project in Iowa City. The Hawkeye mascot Herky The Hawk was molded from fiberglass and each one was painted with a different theme. They have predicted that the 80 or so monuments will bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue to the city in just one year from tourism. More about the Herky The Hawk project here http://www.mcnuttart.com/hoptu.html

If you would like to sponsor an ear of corn click here! VGFA giant Corn11 2014

Please contact Brian Parr at 319-560-7670 or the Vinton Guild Of Fine Arts president Barb Campbell at 319-560-9748 for more information.